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Quebecers of all political stripes cried out for calm and solidarity on Wednesday in the wake of a shooting that, while apparently the work of one disturbed individual, has the potential to increase political tensions and deepen the rift between the province’s two major language groups.

Hours after a suspect — identified by police as Richard Henry Bain of La Conception — allegedly opened fire during premier-elect Pauline Marois’s victory speech and killed a 48-year-old stage technician, the mood on social media and among prominent political commentators remained one of deep shock and horror. Interspersed with the condolences and expressions of grief, however, were carefully worded warnings — reminders that Bain’s pronouncement that “the English are waking up!” following his dramatic arrest should be viewed as the rantings of one mentally unstable individual and not a reflection of the anglophone community’s feelings following Tuesday’s election of a minority Parti Québécois government.

“Francophones and anglophones, we all speak the same language: That of silence. That of a sad heart. That of a heart in mourning,” wrote La Presse columnist Stéphane Laporte in an emotional pre-dawn blog post on the paper’s website. “(Do not allow) this crazed action to provoke more hate and accusations. Do not let it divide us.”

Similar pleas flooded Twitter and Facebook, with many Quebecers taking to the popular social media sites to express their sadness and ask their fellow citizens to resist the urge to make hasty generalizations.

“To those who are separatists, or francophone, or just angry: that man does NOT represent me, or any other anglophone in Quebec!” tweeted one woman identifying herself as Lissa.

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay echoed those sentiments, appealing for calm and telling reporters that “what this man said is not related to the English community.”

By noon, word began to spread that a vigil was being planned for Wednesday evening outside the Metropolis nightclub on Ste. Catherine St. where the shooting took place. A Facebook site set up for the event claimed it was being organized “because fear and hate will only breed more fear and hate.”

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director-general of the Quebec Community Groups Network, said it’s crucial that cooler heads prevail as Quebecers attempt to come to terms with the shooting.

“People who have experience in political circles in highly tense environments are all saying to keep cool,” said Martin-Laforge, whose organization brings together 41 English-language community groups across Quebec. “If we’re going to worry about something, let’s worry about the victims and their families. I think that people want to come together, regardless of their linguistic affiliation.”

Not everyone seemed keen on the idea of a united front, however. An employee at a Montreal-based video game company was fired after posting a series of disparaging comments toward Marois on Facebook early Wednesday. Similar posts on other personal Facebook pages continued popping up as the day wore on. Heated debates also erupted on Twitter in the hours following the incident, with some users accusing Quebec’s anglophone media of bringing long-simmering tensions between francophone and non-francophone language communities to a boil during the election campaign by focusing too heavily on the PQ’s proposal to reinforce Bill 101 — a promise the party maintains it will honour.

Quebec’s fledgling provincial Conservative Party also took to its official Facebook page to lay blame for the incident at the feet of Marois herself, claiming Quebec’s first female premier had emphasized “wedge issues” during her campaign and thus “must take the blame for this incident.” The post was quickly deleted and the party later issued an apology.

Martin-Laforge said she hopes any negative fallout will be quickly overshadowed by a common desire to band together and to distance the act of one man from broader political debates in the province.

“Sometimes crisis events bring out the best in people, and this is a crisis event. It’s not something that Quebecers are used to seeing. It might cause us to come together and to grieve together. I really think we have to grieve this.”

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